On
May 28, 2013, security operatives uncovered an underground armoury in Kano,
following a raid on a building in the highbrow area of the ancient city.
The
house, which belongs to one Abdul Hassan Taher Fadlalla, a Lebanese, turned out
to store a huge cache of arms and ammunition allegedly meant for a planned
attack on Israeli and western interests in the country.
Checks
by Sunday Sun revealed the aftermath of the arms discovery, the peculiar life
of the Lebanese community and its overwhelming influence in Kano state.
Inside
House No.3 Gaya Road
House
No 3 Gaya Road belongs to Abdul Hassan Taher Fadlalla, a Lebanese who is
currently out of the country. The white fence facing the street and a plain
mosque primed to the wall, suggested an ‘innocent’ abode but the seeming
innocence was shattered by the shocking find.
The
Kano State Director of State Security (DSS), Mr Eteng Bassey, told journalists
soon after the raid, that the discovery was after “a thorough” search.
“We
had to search the roof, check the chairs and every place including the kitchen.
Every place in this premise was checked”, he stated.
The
veranda of house was bare, but for a few disfigured furniture
that are scattered on the floor and a lone tree that stood by the
right side shadowing the compound.
Something
eerie hits one at the entrance of the door to the bedroom as the front door is
made of steel, complimented with reinforcements at various points. The door
yields through a line of pathway, direct to the bedroom and like most of the
rooms, the bedroom is barely alight, and in the shadowy gaze, is a white
wardrobe on the left.
Mr.
Eteng said: “In this wardrobe, which you see here, it is expected that the
inside of the wardrobe stops here, but that is not the case.”
Inside
the wardrobe is a pale compartment housing a small bunker, stored with weapons
in neatly arranged coolers. Next, is a colourful bedroom that has a bigger
bunker buried beneath the earth.
“As
you can see at the window, there is reinforcement there. When we checked on the
roof, we realized that you can move through all the parts of the room through
the roof, but in this particular area, the roof taking us to this area, had
been neatly blocked. In order words, there is no way you can use the main
building to come into this area.”
“This
master bedroom is supposed to be a normal place which has normal tiding and is
supposed to be a prayer room, but what is most of interest is that we
discovered that in this prayer room, there are other things that are around
here”.
“When
we started digging, we met the first layer. After the first layer of concrete,
we met the second layer and yet we continued. After the second layer of
concrete, we met the third layer and it was at this layer of concrete that we
now ran into a slab and it was there that we stepped into a big bunker and
inside that bunker, you have neatly arranged coolers. Inside these
coolers, we discovered various weapons”, he stated.
A
source hinted that like all terror-compromised structures, the house would be
pulled down in due course. He explained that the house had survived so far
partly because the security agencies were expecting some policy makers and
National Assembly members to visit the scene.
Weapons
Some
of the ammunition were rusted, their age unknown and the date of their
importation to the country a mystery. But make no mistake, the ammunition were
found to be in deadly shapes and could wipe out thousands in a matter of
minutes.
A
source told Sunday Sun that several of these weapons had so far been oiled,
tested and found to be as effective as newly manufactured weapons.
The
DSS boss confirmed their effectiveness when he stated that, “ you can see the
ones which are rusted, but I tell you everything you see is deadly and it has
the capacity, that if unleashed on human beings, has the capacity to cause a
lot of destruction for this country.”
Security
sources told Sunday Sun that they had information that the suspects serviced
the weapons periodically.
A
further search of the same building a few days later, led to the discovery of
another set of hidden weapons dug out of a slab. The spokesman of the
Joint Security Task Force in the state, Captain Ikedeche Iweha, said the
weapons were 80 explosive indicators, five PPK pistols, 334 rounds of 7.62mm
special, nine magazines, four pistol silencers, 18 nos. of 36 hand
grenades caps, four explosive fuses and two explosive devices.
Investigation
and arrests
So
far, not much is known about the ongoing investigations, beside the fact that
the weapons belonged to a cell of a terrorist organization in Lebanon
identified as Hizbullah Terrorist Group. It is believed that security agents
are digging into the actual motives for the arms dump in the state, beyond what
the suspects had confessed.
Sources
believed that investigators might find out the nature of the terrorist cell and
determine its spread in the state and across the country.
So
far, those arrested in connection with the dump include Mustapha Fawaz, the
co-owner of the popular Amigo Supermarket and Wonderland Amusement Park in
Abuja, who was picked up on May16, 2013.
His
arrest and confession led to the interception of a member of the syndicate,
Abdullah Tahini, a Lebanese, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International
Airport, while on his way to Beirut. On May 26, 2013, security agents also
arrested one Talal Roda, a Lebanese with Nigerian Passport in the said house
and whose confession might have led to the search.
It
was gathered that at least three other suspects of Lebanese’ extraction have
been taken into custody even though one of the key suspects was yet to be
nabbed. A source told Sunday Sun that it was unclear if he was still in the
country.
Soldiers
on the alert
Meanwhile,
soldiers and plain-clothed security personnel have been deployed to all links
to Gaya Road. Their exact number could not be verified, but over 10 Hilux vans
belonging to the sarmy have been stationed at different posts of the street
ever since the discovery of the weapons.
Also,
traffic along Gaya Road has been light and restricted to the immediate
residents of the street. Everybody else, including street hawkers, seems to
understand that there is a serious business on that road.
Smuggling
in the North
A
highly dependent source told Sunday Sun that illegal traffic of goods into and
out of Nigeria through the northern borders booms and posts a near-helpless
case.
The
source stated: “ There are several routes through which you can smuggle
contrabands into Nigeria through the northern borders and what is tragic is
that only a few of these several smuggling routes, are manned by security
operatives. The implication is that illegal goods could be ferried into the
country through the borders”
The
source added that the porous borders could also be a consequence of official
compromise, pointing that a certain personality has been linked to most
smuggling activities in the area and till date, his goods and trailers are
usually cleared.
Lebanese
community in Kano
he
Lebanese community in Kano State is a sizable population, and had consistently
grown in number in the last few years. Some of them have been resident in the
state for so long and have since naturalized. Some were born in the state to
parents who arrived in the country since the colonial times. consequently, they
are familiar with the terrain of the state.
The
Lebanese in the state are generally a very private people. They hardly mix
outside their clan or relatives. They own a club, Lebanese Club and a school,
Lebanese School, all of which are, to a great extent, exclusive to their people
and children. Most of their adults are merchants or manufacturers. They rule
the world in the marketing of textiles, confectionaries, super markets and the
likes, while a few of them are in the hospitality industry.
The
Lebanese in Kano are also a very smart people that understand the psychology of
the average Nigerian. Generally, they are rarely on the wrong side of the law,
and this is partly because long ago, they learnt that in a strange town, they
must befriend the powers that be.
Thus,
they are friends to top politicians such as ministers and governors as well as
captains of industry and traditional rulers. Security sources confirmed that as
a matter of tradition, they, as individuals or as a group, deploy subtle
overtures and overt compromises to officials of government where and when the
need arises.
For
instance, it is public knowledge that not a few past and present heads of
agencies in the state benefit from discounted rates or entirely free
accommodation in the hotel of one of the godfathers of the Lebanese
community in Kano state.
Some
of these compromises, sources said, mean that very often, those who are
supposed to watch the back of these Lebanese and check their games sleep even
in the face of glaring misdeeds by the aliens.
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